The Palace of Eternal Night
"The Palace of Eternal Night is enormous, and though I have lived and shall live in it my entire life, I shall never know it back to front and inside out. There are numerous rooms, nooks, corridors, and passageways I ''never knew were there until I accidentally discover them… Every once in a while I stumble across a hidden area and say to myself, oh, I remember this place, and then it will fade from my memory again. I have no idea if I simply get lost looking for these places, or if they actually relocate themselves... I have made numerous maps of the palace, only to add to them conspicuously and eventually destroy them." ''-Astor on his home. The Palace of Eternal Night (sometimes called "the PEN") is the official residence of the Royal Family of Umbragard. It is a beautiful, elegant, gothic palace, built on a hill overlooking Nighthaven, in the center of Nocturne Valley. It has been the home of the Shadowhawk family for centuries. Prince Astor Shadowhawk and his sister Jasmine were born and raised in the Palace, which is also home to Orphe Ohanzee, Nyx Nightborn, and many servants. Large cats (such as Armand, Astor's panthers, and tigers in the gardens), small cats (Astor's pets), owls (for hunting) and many bats also live in the Palace. The Palace is stands behind a wrought-iron gate flanked by two stone griffins. The gothic architecture of the palace makes it look vaguely church-like, and its high stone towers make it vaguely castle-like. It is not a castle, however, because it is not fortified. It is adorned with many stone gargoyles and chimeras (which talk every once and a while, if they feel like it). The only light int he Palace comes from Shadowlights, fire, and the moon. At daybreak, most of the windows are covered or shuttered. There are many, many rooms and corridors in the Palace, but its residents only use a handful of them due to the overwhelming size and complexity of the Palace. Ground Floor Entrance Hall The main hall of the Palace is made mostly of black stone. Tall columns with gargoyles at the top overlook black tile and black carpeting. The only light in the hall comes from black crystal chandeliers lit with eerie blue Shadowlights. A staircase leads up to a balcony, and decorative banners hang from the ceiling Ballroom Through a pair of twin doors is another staircase that leads down into the ballroom. The ballroom is a round room with a vaulted ceiling, gothic windows, and dragon statues along the walls. It has a polished stone floor and is lit by torches. Drawing Room The elaborate gothic drawing room is very large and directly across the entrance hall from the ballroom. It has several velvet couches and chaise lounges, crystal chandeliers, and a marble fireplace. Above the fireplace is an ornate mirror in the shape of a Gothic window, usually flanked by candles. It is usually quiet, peaceful, and dimly lit. Dining Hall The Dining Hall is a very long hall with several long tables and a raised dais at one end of it, where the Royal Family, their servants, and the Court of Shadows eat. The Royal Family eats at a mahogany table under an ornate wooden roof, enclosed by black curtains and lit by candles. Throne Room and King's Corridor The Throne Room is a long, wide hall with Spyridon's throne at the end of it. It is an impressive black chair with a velvet seat, under a velvet canopy. Sometimes, Hecate's throne is placed beside it, and occasionally there are smaller thrones on either side for the Prince and Princess. The hall is lined with torches and hung with tapestries. A row of gothic windows let the moonlight stream in, and gargoyles survey the hall from the sidelines. A door off the Throne Room is the entrance to the King's Corridor, a narrow, also torchlit hall lined with portraits of previous monarchs, going back about twelve generations (300 years). On the back wall is the portrait of the current king, Spyridon, and on the wall beside it is a portrait of the king-to-be, Astor. Royal Quarters Astor's Room Astor's room looks smaller than it really is because it is constantly dark and covered in velvet. It has velvet carpeting, velvet curtains, and velvet draped over armchairs. Two pillars hold up the vaulted ceiling, which is rarely visible in the dim light. There is a marble fireplace on the right wall and two gothic windows on the back wall. Several bookshelves frame a reading space in the corner. Most of Astor's furniture is made of ebony, and there is an ornate silver mirror on the wall. Astor decorates most available surfaces in his room with trinkets and curiosities, such as polished stones, boxes, crystals and orbs, jars and bottles, gothic candelabra, books, jeweled goblets and daggers, candles, mirrors, and statues (of cats, owls, unicorns, dragons, gods, angels, and gargoyles). Two of his favorites are a pair of bat-winged gargoyle cats on his mantlepiece. Astor's bed is in the back left corner, and it is relatively large. He keeps it filled with pillows, forming a kind of nest for him to sleep in. It is entirely enclosed by purple curtains and the wall. On that wall is the door to the passageway that connects it to Nyx's room. Nyx's Room Nyx's room also has black velvet carpeting and curtains. Its walls are deep blue. The furniture is mostly ebony or silver-plated, and Nyx has her own fireplace. Her bed is also enclosed on all sides by satin curtains (against the right wall, instead of the left), and covers the secret passage connecting it to Astor's room. Jasmine's Room Jasmine's room is much more well-lit than her brother's because she keeps it filled with Shadowlights. Everything is trimmed with gauzy fabric hung with jewels or crystals. Her room overlooks her magnificent gardens, and she always keeps a vase of fresh flowers. Orphe's Room Orphe's room is almost completely dark all the time, and most of it is a maze of black curtains. Orphe knows his labyrinth by heart, but anyone else would get completely lost. In one hidden corner of it is his nest, and in another, his dead parents' fortune, and the little wisps of folds that Orphe has left of them. Lounge Down a small staircase is the royal lounge, much smaller than the drawing room but filled with many more places to sit as well as a crackling fireplace. It has the same kind of mildly claustrophobic coziness that Astor's room does. Dungeons ''"If you think your basement is spooky, you should see mine. The underground floors of the palace are a vast network of stone chambers and corridors, referred to collectively as “the dungeon” regardless of what they are used for… Much of it is used for storage and magical practice, but there are even bedrooms down there for those Shadows that prefer a cool place to sleep in the summer." ''-Astor on the palace dungeons. Hecate's Lair Somewhere in the winding dungeon, at the end of a torch-lined corridor, is Hecate's lair, where she spends most of her time. It is a cluttered workshop full of books, scrolls, and magical devices. There is usually a cauldron of something bubbling on the fire. This is where Hecate gives her children (as well as Nyx and Senka) magical training. Catacombs Even further underground than the dungeon are even darker, even more labyrinthine catacombs where many ancient rulers of Umbragard are buried (more recent ones are buried in the cemetery). Even Astor finds this place creepy, and avoids going down there. Outdoors Gardens ''"Jasmine’s garden was absolutely, serenely beautiful. It created a startling juxtaposition to the gothic stone palace." -''Nyx on the garden. Jasmine designed parts of the gardens and planted as much as she could. It is full of secret paths, hedges, and avenues of trees, and night-blooming flowers are everywhere. In one part of the garden is a fountain lit by Shadowlights, and a pond full of bright pink water lilies and iridescent salamanders that Jasmine and Astor call "Illuminewts." White tigers and peacocks live in the garden. Astor's favorite part of the garden is a secret semicircle of poplars around a marble bench, surrounded by rosebushes with white, red, and black blooms. Cemetery The palace graveyard is on a hill behind the palace, with a view of the valley. Some of the gravestones are ancient, and others are newer and polished. There are even old trees with ravens in them, because every graveyard needs them. At the center of the graveyard, the most recent Umbragardian rulers are buried in impressive tombs. The cemetery makes a good picnic place on full moons. Bat Conservatory The palace is full of bats, roosting in towers, hiding in hallways, sleeping in the dungeon, or even hanging from chandeliers, but the Royal Family is just as affectionate towards non-native bats. A huge conservatory houses many kinds of tropical bats that live amidst fruit trees. Astor has taken time to individually name each one. The conservatory has gotten a lot bigger since Orphe came to the palace, since Spyro took in many of the late Lord Ohanzee's bat specimens. Other Locations Servants' Quarters On one of the higher floors is a dormitory for servants. The Royal Family do their best to treat their servants well and give them good accommodations. Most of the staff live here, but some are given their own rooms, such as Willy, whose room is adjoined to Astor's. Servants are given equal portions of food and bowls of cream, and extra treats for a job well done. Library The library is a wide, dim hall full of many, many tall bookshelves that extend up into the darkness. It is slightly more well-lit than other rooms in the palace so reading is easier. Ancient scrolls, tomes of magic, books of psychology, mythology and philosophy, and novels about vampires line the shelves. Astor and Nyx love spending time there, reading fairytales by candlelight.